Kosher Day set for Valley

Pleasanton, CA — For many Jews and some non-Jews, following a kosher diet is important to their faith and/or their physical and spiritual well-being. This is why two local Chabads will assist area residents in maintaining and learning more about this way of life Wednesday during the first Tri-Valley Kosher Day.

This is a way to perk up interest in general, says Rabbi Raleigh Resnick. For Jewish people and community at large … there are so many choices.
Sponsored and coordinated by Chabad of Contra Costa and Chabad of the Tri-Valley, the day will focus on promoting, educating and bringing awareness to the general community about kosher food.

Participating supermarkets will have displays, videos and kosher food samples throughout the day. There also will be a raffle for a kosher cookbook and childrens contests.

Post all wrong on Hasidic cop hire

A Hasidic scholar from Brooklyn wasn’t hired as part of the NYPD’s newest class of recruits as the New York Post claimed on its front page yesterday, authorities said.

Joel Witriol, 24, was four credits shy of meeting the NYPD’s requirement of 60 college credits, and was not part of the latest class of 1,560 recruits.

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said Witriol could reapply if he fulfills the education requirement. Kelly said the department had hired Orthodox Jewish recruits in the past.

Picture of the Night

At around 12:00am this man was observed staring attentively into the window of the Jewish Children’s Museum’s Gift Shop, at a painting of the Alter Rebbe with a pad and pen in hand sketching the painting.

The man told me that he felt that the Rabbi [the Alter Rebbe] has some special powers and was a special person, and therefore felt the need to sketch the painting.

Gas Explosion on the Upper East Side Levels Building

One second the building was there, shaken residents of 62nd street said yesterday, but in the next moment it was a cascade of fiery rubble pounding the street.

Authorities said they were investigating whether the four-story building’s collapse at 8:40 a.m. yesterday was the result of a suicide attempt by the owner and sole occupant of the building, Nicholas Bartha, 66, who is reportedly going through a lengthy and bitter divorce. The explosion at 64 E. 62nd St. between Park and Madison avenues was officially caused by an ignited gas leak, the fire commissioner, Nicholas Scoppetta, said.

It wasn’t a quick, loud explosion like a firework, but a deep boom followed by the sound of four stories of stone tumbling to the ground, observers said. Nearby building alarms set off, TV news became static, and phone lines went dead on this upscale block of Manhattan. The power of the blast shattered the windows in the building across the street.

Hasidic girls take journey of faith

Santa Barbara, CA – Rock climbing and bicycle riding can be tricky in a floor-length skirt. A group of teenage girls who belong to Chabad, a Hasidic Jewish group, have learned to get around the obstacles of their faith’s dress code requirement.

“We wear pants underneath,” said Devorah Goldberg, one of 46 sophomores on a trek up the West Coast. “You get used to it.”

Meet The New “Jewish Law”

The NYPD has recruited an unorthodox new officer – its first Hasidic cop.

Joel Witriol, a 24-year-old Talmud scholar from Brooklyn, starts his training at the department’s Police Academy today. “I realized there were so many things you could do [as a cop] – everything from community service to fighting narcotics,” Witriol said, coming off the heels of a stint with the department’s auxiliary police force. “There are a hundred things, and every day is different.”

Witriol has a degree from United Talmudical Seminary in Monroe, where he studied “religious stuff, mostly.”

He’s also held part-time jobs doing everything from driving a delivery truck to working for a furniture company.

CGI NY wishes the President a Happy 60th Birthday

Last week, campers in Camp Gan Yisroel, NY posed for a unique picture in the lineup area in front of the flagpole. As it was President Bush’s 60th birthday they lined up in “Happy 60th Mr. President” formation.

Visiting day in Camp Gan Yisroel – Parksville, NY

Click the Extended Article for a picture gallery!

Hasidic visitors leave a loving message

Durango, CO – Our area welcomes visitors from all over the world. This week, there were two who were a bit more noticeable than most.

They hail from the not so exotic Detroit and New Jersey, but Rabbi Yossi Goodman and rabbinical candidate Berel Zaklikofsky are Hasidic Jews who follow the Lubavitch tradition. That means that they wear their kippas (or yarmulkes) at all times, not just when in synagogue, keep kosher and dress modestly.

“We follow the Torah a little over the letter of the law,” Goodman said. “But we’re no different than a normal Jewish person. Everyone comes from one God. Labels are for soda cans.”

The Hebrew word “Hasid” means pious. In general terms, it refers to an Eastern European religious movement that dates back to Rabbi Israel Ba’al Shem Tov in the early 18th century. The Lubavitch, or Chad, branch originated in Poland about 250 years ago.

J for J campaign targets NY Jews

“J for Jews,” reads the advertisement on the F train speeding through south Brooklyn’s subway tracks toward Coney Island. It’s a confusing configuration. But then it becomes clear it is simply “Jews for J” inverted and that the change is only the beginning of what is new, stream-lined, and more expansive about the well-known – and to most, highly annoying – Christian missionary group.